“Good. I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me.”

Jesse: “You’re welcome… and lucky because we have a bit of a car ride here so you can get away with it.” (We both laughed)

“Lets talk about your book American Conspiracies. You wrote this book with Dick Russell and I understand you both worked together previously on another book?”

Jesse: “Yes, my previous book Don’t Start The Revolution Without Me. Dick is a very good man and good at doing research and that’s probably my weakness. Dick also wrote a book called “ The Man Who Knew Too Much” and that’s how we met after he gave me a copy of his book in 2003.”

“How much time did you spend on research?”

Jesse: “We spent about 6 months. It didn’t come together easy. When you are doing this it’s like taking a jigsaw puzzle and taking all the pieces and throwing it on the floor. You start by picking up one piece, which is information. Then you eventually start piecing together all these little bits of information. Now, can you complete the whole jigsaw puzzle? No, you can’t do that. But you can put together enough information and get enough clues and pieces to the puzzle to where you can then look at it. It may have a big whole in it but you can look at it and clearly understand what the big picture is.”

“Have you seen the movie Conspiracy Theory? Where they think the main character played by Mel Gibson is crazy and in the end he wasn’t as crazy as people thought.”

Jesse: “Yeah, well that’s kind of how it is when you write about these conspiracies because main stream media is gonna put out that you’re crazy. They say, how can anyone believe these things? I say, how can you not?”

“Why do you think John Lennon was killed?”

Jesse: “That’s interesting because John Lennon was making a huge comeback and he was the voice of the left. And if you remember right, Ron Reagan had just been elected. The interesting thing about Lennon’s death , Malcolm X’s death and Martin Luther Kings death is they were all 3 under heavy survailence by the CIA when they were shot and killed. I couldn’t believe how much the CIA were following Lennon and had him under survailence, because I don’t know what they felt he was a threat to the country? I mean c’mon, the singer for the Beatles is a threat to the country.”(laughter)

“If you had to pick between the Beatles and Led Zeppelin who would you pick?”

Jesse: “Led Zeppelin of course! Led Zeppelin is my favorite band of all time and the rolling stones are a close second.”

“Do you think Oliver Stone’s depiction of the movie on the Assasination of JFK was accurate or just Hollywood fluff?”

Jesse: “Oliver Stone’s movie was a hell of a lot more accurate than the Warren Commission.”

“So, I understand you spend quite a bit of time in Baha, Mexico”

Jesse: “Yeah, I spend half the year down there. Have you ever been to Minnesota in the winter? After about 25 Minnesota winters you have to surrender.” (laughter)
“Do you do any surfing?”

Jesse: “Yeah, I golf, surf and scuba dive. I wake up in the morning with nothing to do and before I go to bed I’m half done. (laughter) It’s a great layed back lifestyle.”

“I heard that you originally moved there to help your wife’s CFS?”

Jesse: “Well yeah, and that’s why I didn’t seek re-election either. And I didn’t make that public because the media attacked me enough and I felt it was private and they didn’t need to know about it. Living in Mexico has mad her health much, much better and I’ll tell you this point blank…my wife means more to me than holding any public office.”

“How long have you guys been married?”

Jesse: “35 years this July”

“Congratulations! How have you kept the marriage going so long?”

Jesse: “Thank you. I would tell people that the best thing for marriage is to communicate, because to hold things in letting them build up causes problems. Communication is definitely the key to a sustained marriage.”
“I understand your daughter was married not to long ago? Any chance of you becoming a grandfather anytime soon?”
Jesse: “Nope..and I don’t want to get any older than I have to be (laughter) I know my wife is looking forward to it but I don’t really care to be honest.”

“What are your thoughts on the Minnesota Independence party backing Mayor Bloomberg for president in 2012 “

Jesse: “He’s a bright man. He’s done an outstanding job here in N.Y. to the best of my knowledge. I mean New Yorkers would know better than me. Whenever I come here it seems he’s done a great job with the city. If he runs as a true independent he gets my full support because I don’t vote for democrats or republicans. I refuse to vote for them and I encourage everyone else in this country to do the same. The problem with these 2 political parties is that they put the party before the country. The same goes for Linda McMahon.”

“Is there anything in your new book that you didn’t cover and later wished that you did?”

Jesse: “The only thing I wish I also covered was the murder of John Lennon. I mean he was under heavy survaillance by the CIA, couldn’t that have saved his life?”

“I guess, unless they were in on it.”

Jesse: “Exactly.” (laughing)
“It must be hard to be protected if they are in on it.”(laughter)
Jesse: “Well you said that not me.” (both laughing)
“Yeah well, just speculation.”
Jesse: “Sure, but its a very educated speculation when you look at the facts.”

“I read somewhere that you were a gang member earlier in life as part of the Mogols?”

Jesse: “No, I was not!”

“Was that a rumor?”

Jesse: “No, it’s true but we are not a gang we are a motorcycle club. It says MC on my colors.”

“I apologize Governor, that’s how I read it somewhere. I guess you can’t believe everything you read.”

Jesse: “That was way back after I just got out of the Navy and I was rebelling after doing 2 tours in South East Asia. I was riding Harley’s and became interested. I can honestly say that I am a full patch member of the Moguls and I don’t hide it. I ran into a Mongol in LA and told him I was riding again but haven’t paid my dues in a long time and when I ride I wear my colors, does the club have any problem with that? He looked at me and said you’re a Mongol you wear your colors anywhere you want. Then I asked him, how would it be if I came back out here and came to a Mongol party, he said you would be treated like a god! While I was the Governor I received a letter from them that said in our wildest dreams we never thought that a Mongol could become a governor. You know how the Mongols started don’t ya? The Hells Angels wouldn’t let the Mexicans in so they started their own club. I could ride through East LA and never be bothered.”

“So then after that you became a pro wrestler? Why did you decide to do that?”

Jesse: “ I couldn’t sing or dance.(laughing) I enjoyed theater in college and sports too. So this allowed me to have both together.”

“Would you ever consider putting any of your feather boas up for a charity auction?"

Jesse: “I already auctioned all of them off over the years. I don’t have any left. They didn’t cost much and I bought most of them in N.Y. I mean, what am I gonna do wear one to church?” (laughing)

“Have you had any threats on your life veiled or otherwise for exposing these things in your book?”

Jesse: “No not at all. You know what’s interesting too? Ok , if the book is totally inaccurate and not true well then clearly they are not going to threaten me. I would look that a threat would come if the book is indeed true. That would show me that I’m on the right path and somebody doesn’t want that exposed, so if I’m threatened in any way then that would mean that the book is absolutely true.”

“So you met the Dali Lama and asked him if he had ever seen the movie ‘Caddie Shack’ why?"

Jessie: “Yea, what was I going to do, ask him the meaning of life? I mean how many times do you think he’s been asked that? (laughing) I wanted to ask him something original and he’s a great guy with a great sense of humor and I found that out after talking to him for 45 min. It actually made Newsweek magazine!” (Laughing)

“Do you have any advise for a 60 year old ex pro wrestler that has decided to get back in the ring? I think you know who I mean.” (laughing)

Jesse: “Um..I think its insane ah…advise? I have no advise, when I retired I’m probably the only one who actually did when he said he would and never went back again. To me you have to look at it in reality, it’s a young mans game. Father time catches up to every athelete, Micheal Jordan, Mohamed Ali and when your time is up..move on, move on, its time. And for a guy to crawl back in the ring at that age I think it’s really pretty pathetic”

“I guess my last question would be.. with all the things you have done In your lifetime, what would you want your legacy to be? What would you want on your tombstone?”

Jesse: “If I tell you your going to laugh, I want my tombstone to read..here lies Jesse Ventura, he never owned a cell phone. ( both laughing) Its now my life’s mission to never own one.”

“Well I guess that should do it. I’ll let you get to your next book signing and again thank you very much Governor.”